Two recipes: Wild Damson Gin and Sloe Gin recipes
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 713 comments
Wild damsons are a beautiful rich dark colour
Unlike sloes, wild damsons are hard to find. For every thirty wild plum trees there may be just one wild damson tree. When I spot wild damsons in the hedgerows, they are harvested into a special bag.
These, and the diminutive bullace, are the kings of hedgerow fruit. These tiny fruit make such an irresistible liqueur that overnight guests have actually turned down Danny’s famous cooked breakfast, and gone back to bed to sleep off the excesses of the night before.
Our damson and sloe gin is not the thick ultra sweet variety. We prefer the sugar to enhance rather than shield the flavour. Every three months or so it’s sampled and, if necessary, topped up with sugar. Usually no extra sugar is needed.
We try to keep our damson and sloe gin well away from the drinks tray! Each year we make a lot of fruit gin and vodka (more recipes to follow, in time). Sloe gin is the big craze at the moment around here, as sloes are more plentiful.
Here are our recipes for both. We are also starting experimenting with sloe gin see this post for details
Tips and tricks:
- Make more than you need the first year, so you can compare different vintages. This liqueur does improve over time.
- Some people drain the grog through muslin after a couple of months, to clarify the liqueur and bottle. We don’t bother as one old soak tipped that, once the gin is drunk, you can pour medium sherry on the fruit and start all over again! The latter is devilish and drinkable within three months. We have a recipe for this in our wine and gin section.
- Keep your fruit gin away from the light as this will maintain the colour. Unless it is in a dark green or brown bottle. Wrapping it in brown parcel paper will keep out the light.
- Make notes on a label of your fruit gin/vodka /sugar ratio and stick it onto the bottle(s) so that you have a record, if you make a particularly good batch. We note our responses as the grog matures. Yucky after sixth months can be to die for in a year (you will probably not remember without notes). Notes seem boring when you are making the grog but they are so worthwhile when you start again the next year. It won’t be long before you will get a feel of what works well for your taste (and the notes will come into their own).
- Adding almond essence to sloe gin lifts it from good to great. I haven’t tried this with the damson gin but return in a years’ time for our review.
- Don’t kill the liqueur with too much sugar at the start. Use the amount above to start your sloe or damson gin and then every couple of months take a tiny sip. At this time add more sugar if it is too sharp for your taste.
- Gin v Vodka? Vodka can be used as the spirit for these recipes. Although I’m a vodka drinker, we tend to stick to a gin base for our fruit liqueurs.
- A good damson gin can be made from ordinary damsons available in the shops. As they are bigger you would need to put them into a larger Le Parfait jar (I’d use a 2 litre size).
- People have been picking sloes from September 1st around here. Some people say that you shouldn’t pick sloes until after the first frost. This can be circumvented by putting your sloes in the freezer overnight. We don’t bother with either method and always have great results.
- This year we have made up a number of small (1lb honey jars) of sloe gin to give as Christmas presents.
| Wild Damson Gin and sloe gin Recipes |
Recipe Type: Liqueurs
Prep time: 15 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- Wild damson gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed wild damsons
- 6 ozs/168gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle with stopper/cork
- Sloe Gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
- 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle
- 1-2 drops of almond essence
Instructions
- Wild damson gin:
- Wash damsons well and discard any bad or bruised fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place damsons in either a large
- Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre bottle.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year). If you are planning to drink this after 3 months, have a nip afetr a month, and top up with sugar to taste.
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year. Don’t leave the straining process any longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur, as we found to our cost one year.
- Sloe gin:
- Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes in either a large Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre bottle. I put several sloes in my palm to prick them rather than picking them up one by one.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim. Always open sugar bags over the sink as sugar tends to get caught in the folds at the top of the bag.
- Add the almond essence.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year).
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year.
Leave a reply
Thanks, Fiona. That saves me some work. Sorry to keep coming with the questions, but is there a reason for the damson recipe using more sugar than the sloe one? I would have expected it to be the other way round. Just curious – I’m not casting doubt on your experience!
Hello James P
That’s a relief!
Re the damsons. No need to freeze or pierce the skins. I just put them in the bottle, add the sugar and shake every morning and evening for a few days.
I think we’ve found enough actual damsons to make some gin – is freezing them recommended, or should we just prick the skins? I should add that have a few sloes in the freezer, but their skins still seem to be intact!
Fiona – I should have added that the ‘dehydrated beer’ wasn’t anything to do with gin (thankfully), it just amused me that such a thing existed as an ingredient (in beer battered chips, as it happens).
I’m not sure that gin bottles own up to any particular recipe, as their distillers like to keep that sort of thing secret – I just suspect that the really cheap end of the market hasn’t been anywhere near a juniper bush, for instance. Mind you, there’s no way of knowing if the more expensive stuff has, either!
Hi Sarah F
Wow, you lucky thing. I found loads of wild cherry plums but only a handful of wild damsons (now soaking in gin in the barn). Thanks for all your tips, love the idea of damson ripple ice cream.
Hello James P
Wild damsons are a dark purplish blueish colour, they are more like a tiny plum. Sloes are rounder. I’m thinking of putting up a post tomorrow with photographs of the hedgerow fruit around here.
Hi James P
I’ve never thought of reading the label! I’ll check them out next time.
Hello Granny Mo
Great that you’re enjoying the site. Thanks so much for leaving a comment.
Hi Pete
I totally agree – never use plastic bottles for liqueurs as the plastic will leach eventually.
Thanks for the tips on choosing spirits!
Hi Jane
I must check that out £10.00 for organic gin is a bargain. Thanks so much.
Try Greens Organic Juniper Gin. this is about £10 for a Ltr bottle in your regular supermarket, and is gorgeous (even though some people won’t drink it coz its not a popular brand). It also works well with plums. Plum Gin. Um!!!!!!! About 40% proof and very delicious!!!!!
With regard to cheap gin, the only advice I can offer is that it should be genuine ‘grain spirit’ – in another words, own label is fine, but avoid the ultra cheap stuff, which may result in a slightly more bitter, ‘plain’ tasting product after your months of patience. You get what you pay for of course.
Organic lovers will find some extra expense, but if you’re using wild damsons/sloes and organic sugar (the unrefined, lighter coloured variety), you’ll get a very natural product. You can always make a bit less and make it last… I usually make a small organic batch and amongst my more substantial main effort.
I would also encourage glass bottles over plastic, for taste as well anything else.
I’ve just got back from a morning picking damsons in a friends garden and I really can’t wait to get started turning them into some of your amazing recipes…my problem being where to start. Your web site is brilliant and fun and I’m so glad I’ve found it. Feel like a whole new world has just opened up to me…!!Thanks!
I meant to say, having now been motivated to look for Gin, that Sainsburys standard own-label is currently £11.18 for a litre. They do a 1.5 litre bottle, too, but that isn’t any cheaper, although the extra-large bottle might be useful!
They do an even cheaper ‘basic’ gin, but you do have to wonder what gets left out. Having encountered ‘dehydrated beer’ on a label recently (!) I’m getting a bit wary of what I buy in supermarkets!
Having found a bumper crop of sloes locally, I think I’ve found some wild damsons, but I wish I could be sure. The fruit seems a slightly brighter colour, and the trees didn’t seem to fight back when being picked (i.e. not so thorny) but I may just be getting better at avoiding them! Comparing the leaves is inconclusive, as there is as much variation on a tree as there is between them, and the fruit sizes are pretty variable, too. Some of what I took to be damsons were as big as large grapes, but we have some pretty big sloes, too, and of course that’s what they may all be. They taste quite bitter and the flesh is a bit ‘gritty’.
Apologies if this is answered elsewhere on your site..